PARADE

Music & Lyrics By Jason Robert Brown

Book by Alfred Uhry

Watertower Theatre

REVIEWED 04/07/07 PERFORMANCE

Directed by James Paul Lemons
Musical Direction by Matthew Vala
Choreography by Paula Morelan

Scenic Design by Clare Floyd DeVries
Costume Design by Michael A. Robinson
Lighting Design by David Natinsky

CAST:

Young Soldier/Fiddlin'John............Trevor Wright
Old Soldier/Judge Roan................R. Bruce Elliott
Lucille Frank................................Jennifer Pasion
Leo Frank....................................Donald Fowler
Hugh Dorsey...............................Stan Graner
Gov. John Slaton..........................Paul Taylor
Sally Slaton.................................Cara Statham Serber
Frankie Epps...............................Ryan Appleby
Mary Phagan...............................Elizabeth Judd
Iola Stover...................................Megan Kelly
Jim Conley..................................Walter Cunningham
Det. J.N. Starnes.........................Clay Yocum
Officer Ivey.................................Jack Birdwell
Newt Lee.....................................Wilber Penn
Prison Guard...............................Stephen Bates
Mrs. Phagan................................Mary Gilbreath
Lizzie Phagan..............................Julie Painter
Britt Craig....................................Theo Wischhusen
Tom Watson................................Gary Moody
Angela.........................................Eleanor T. Threatt
Riley............................................Matthew Johnson
Luther Rosser...............................Mark Oristano
Nurse...........................................Kristi Rowan
Monteen.......................................Alicia Bullen
Essie............................................Katelyn Branson
Mr. Peavy.....................................Michael Serrecchia
Floyd MacDaniel...........................Charles Ryan Roach
Ensemble......................................Lindsey Holloway

______________________________PARADE________________________________

You are watching the news or reading the newspaper, or on the Internet someone is being accused of a horrific crime. Accompanying the article is the picture of the killer. We immediately make a judgment on that person. The media will twist and turn their story to make it more sensational. Gotta sell those papers! They make that accuser even more sinister, strange and evil. They already are declaring him guilty, and yet the trial has not even begun. But not in the court of public opinion, that judgment is already handed out. We don't know the actual facts and evidence, but who cares? He/She "looks" guilty. Months (or years) later the trial reveals the actual evidence and facts, i.e. the truth. But it's too late; we've already passed judgment as a society.

Take a look at the recent Duke Lacrosse player scandal. Three rich, spoiled frat boys who raped a stripper at a Frat house party. Everyone (including myself) read and heard and saw on TV the graphic details of this poor girl not being able to defend herself, and all those other big lacrosse players just stood there and watched. Then add race (the boys were white, she was black) into the mix and you a powder keg ready to explode. The District Attorney immediately told the nation that those boys are guilty and will be severely punished.

But then the actual facts came out. No rape occurred, no DNA, no actual evidence connecting the players to any form of rape. The girl had said she was brutally attacked, but showed no evidence of it. She said she couldn't work due to the injuries. But then videotape popped up all over the media. It showed her dancing at the strip club, just a few days after she the attack. The end result was shattered lives and reputations. No one came out a winner.

Another excellent example is the McMartin trial in the 80s. This was the case that involved an elderly grandmother, her daughter, and her son being accused of molesting the children that were in their care (They ran a day care center). There were horrifying tales of rape, sodomy, Satanic rituals, animal sacrifices in front of the children, endless torture, and so on. The children said it all happened. The McMartins were convicted in the court of public opinion even before the trail began. Both media and the public found them guilty. But many years later we find out that nothing actually happened. But the McMartins had already served so many years in prison with their lives destroyed. Again, no winners here.

Today's technology regarding DNA has truly advanced in pointing the finger at who did what. The scary part is because of DNA testing, there have been endless cases in which innocent men were wrongly convicted and have been in prison for years before DNA testing. Simply just rotting away in a cold, dank cell for a crime they never committed.

We see and read about this all the time; an innocent person is being fingered as the killer or attacker. We pass judgment just by looking at him/her. They look different than us, they don't look "normal", they don't fit into what we find acceptable in society. "They don't look or act like us, so they must be guilty. They're different."

Jason Robert Brown's PARADE is an excellent example of how someone who does not fit the norm is being accused of murder, even though he is completely innocent. This powerful, emotional gripping musical is receiving its regional premiere at Watertower Theatre.

PARADE opened on Broadway at the Vivian Beaumont Theater in December 1998, where it only played 85 performances, closing in February 1999. The musical did win Tonys for Best Book and score, but would lose the Tony for Best Musical to FOSSE.

The musical deals with the murder of a little girl who was killed at a pencil factory. One of its employees was a frail, nerdish, quiet man who also happened to be Jewish named Leo Frank. He immediately becomes suspect number one thanks to a shady detective. Citizens are screaming for Frank's head, a Governor is demanding justice and a conviction, a lawyer who needs a win badly, and the city's reporters helping feed the fire by writing and condemning the poor man on paper - even before the trial began.

The score is a masterpiece. Brown has composed a rich, emotionally textured, multi-layered score that is marvelous to hear. He penned grand, choral numbers that combines Southern charm, Bluegrass, and Baptist hymns into ravishing music. Brown wrote complex melodies that entwine and weave magically into the music. The ballads speak directly from the inner subtext of its characters, thanks to his finesse lyrics.

It's so rare in today's musicals to have that gift of its lyrics truly speak from deep inside within its characters, but PARADE achieves that. One of my favorite touches of Brown's music is the underscore. After a gut wrenching solo (such as "it's Hard to Speak my Heart"), Brown keeps one simple note from that ballad segue into the underscore, pulsing quietly in the background. While Hugh Dorsey continues to condemn the accused in court, we still hear Leo's previous solo play underneath-letting the audience know he's still there. Its gorgeous musical subtext like this that adds to the beauty of Brown's score.

Alfred Uhry's book is the perfect compliment to Brown's score. The book works beautifully within the music. Many musicals have the standard pattern of just being some dialogue being thrown in until the next musical number comes along, not here. Uhry allows the music to suddenly appear magically into the book.

The production is directed beautifully by James Paul Lemons. His blocking and staging never looks cumbersome or lackadaisical on the bare stage. He has picture windows carefully arranged all over the stage, giving more weight to the emotion. It's simple, elegant, and honest. Lemons wisely steered his cast from not falling into paint by number stereotypes, but instead allowed them to be individually real. His direction here is outstanding.

Kudos as well to musical director Matthew Vala and his orchestra for bringing Brown's score to exquisite life.

This is a large cast, which makes it difficult to single out those who provided that something extra special, because in all honesty, the entire company as a whole did just that. From the ensemble to the leads, the cast does a fantastic job in bringing PARADE to life.

Theo Wischhusen portrays "Britt Craig", the drunken reporter who gets his big break with the murder and its trial after years of reporting on mundane news. The gifted actor provides great energy and drunken showmanship with his brassy solo "Good News".

I never liked the voice of the actress who played "Mary Phagan" on the original cast recording. She sounds as though she is overplaying the Southern dialect. Thankfully Elizabeth Judd avoids that trap completely. Her sweet, innocent face and soft mannerisms give Mary a warm, loving glow to the characterization. The end result here is that the audience feels great sympathy for Mary's brutal death thanks to Ms. Judd's work.

Clay Yocum and Jack Birdwell are also standouts. These two terrific actors bring raw anger and contempt for Leo Frank that is so vivid it makes you squirm in your seat. Yocum is "Det. J.N. Starnes", a racist cop who apparently doesn't give a damn about facts. Birdwell is "Officer Ivey", another racist cop who agrees with his colleague. But does he? Watch how both actors expertly handle the final scene in Act Two. It is not done as tiresome melodrama or hysterics; instead Yocum and Birdwell create tension and conflicting motives in that final gripping scene.

As the two main lawyers, Stan Graner and Mark Oristano also deliver smashing performances within this talented company. Graner (as "Hugh Dorsey") shows the great determination that he has within him to convict Leo Frank, regardless of the truth. This is a man who was told by the Governor that he needs a win after having one loss too many. Oristano is Leo Frank's lawyer, a crude, vulgar man who seems not to see the whole picture here. Both actors give it their all in the courtroom battle, in particular Graner, that adds gritty tension and conflict within the scene.

Ryan Appleby is superb as Mary's close friend "Frank Epps". His vocal powerhouse performance in the song "It Don't Make Sense" is one of the best musical numbers of the evening.

Others in the gifted company providing excellent work include Trevor Wright (as the young soldier) who sings in a pure, crystal clean tenor voice the prologue; Mary Gilbreath (Mrs. Phagan) delivers a mother's aching heart with "My Child will Forgive Me"; R. Bruce Elliott as the conflicted Judge Roan; Gary Moody as the evil "Tom Watson"; Paul Taylor as " Governor Slaton", Cara Statham Serber as his wife, and Walter Cunningham as "Jim Conley", the janitor at the pencil factory whose testimony helps put Leo Frank in jail.

Donald Fowler portrays "Leo Frank, the accused man who is highly educated and happens to be Jewish. Fowler gives Leo the perfect combination of snobbish, rigid, cold persona that does show the audience why many in town don't like him. He's strange, weird, has a nervous tic with his hands, and the man never smiles. Fowler gives a restrained, internal performance that is marvelous to watch. Vocally his finest musical number is the haunting ballad "It's hard to speak my heart"; here we finally see what lies underneath that frosty exterior. Fowler wonderfully displays in organic honesty a complex, detailed characterization that is by far Fowler's finest work.

Pasion shows honest, yet internally complicated compassion as "Lucille", a wife who may have some doubts of her husband's innocence. She gives her characterization equal doses of sweet Southern belle and quiet reserve. But what I immensely enjoyed from her performance was how her face and eyes showed in aching realism how confused and lost she is with the whole situation involving her husband. Watch her reactions and body language at the trial. It is small, internal gestures, but they give so much subtext. You see on her face when she realizes the truth about her husband. It is
riveting to observe unfold. Pasion has the right amount of bitterness and anger about what people say about her husband in the emotional ballad, "You Don't Know This Man". Pasion's eyes glisten in tears as she deeply peels emotionally into the lyrics explaining her husband. While Pasion does have some vocal problems in reaching a couple of the high notes in her songs, she reveals great intensity that cannot be ignored.

Both thespians play off each other remarkably well, especially in the second act. They both sing two terrific duet numbers that display their talents brightly, "This is not over yet" and "All the Wasted time", two more glittery baubles of song within Brown's sparkling score.

Problems within the production were minor. There was at times some pace issues, especially in the first act. Also there were some lighting cues that were a beat behind or came up too early, causing slight distraction, such as the funeral and hanging scenes. The transitions also were slightly problematic. There was no major scenery to move around, as it is a bare stage with only a metal skeleton to serve as the set. The only major set piece besides the metal scaffolding was a huge tree on stage left. But for some strange reason scene changes tended to be a little too long in the dark, delaying the progression.

There were some odd choices within the aforementioned transitions as well. With the audience placed that close to the action, we can see everything. An example of this is the funeral scene. For that scene it took four men to carry Mary's coffin, but in the blackout, the back lighting caught two girls come out and pick up the coffin like it was made of Styrofoam, and rushing off stage. It damages the illusion of theater a little when we see the reality behind the magic.

Finally a body mic that started to pop and fizz a little towards the end of Act one became a diabolical creature for the second act. It just kept popping, wheezing and clicking throughout the second act. You could tell that the tech crew was trying to fix the problem as the volume kept going in and out.

Nonetheless, these are the kind of minor problems that happen on opening weekend. It does takes a couple of performances under their belts for things like this to be cleaned and fixed, which I'm sure will be by the time you see it.

I have a mental list of six musicals that I wish for that should be produced here. PARADE has always been in my top three. When the national tour came through Dallas, I went back a total of four times to see it again and again. It is a remarkable, emotional, muscular score that stays with you way after you leave the theater. It has a book that actually makes you feel the emotions being exposed and discovered on stage.

WTT's production of PARADE is both powerful and majestic. They made the long wait for this musical to be produced here locally so well worth it.

As I was finishing up this review, my TV was on in the background buzzing away with the local news. Then his next story captured my attention. The anchorman was reporting that a man who has been in prison for over twenty years was finally getting released on Monday. It seemed new DNA testing was done on the evidence of the murder he was accused of. The testing revealed that he was not the killer.

When you see PARADE, the action takes place in the1900s, but what will astound you the most is that those exact same kinds of disgusting, false accusations are still being done in 2007.


GRADE: A-

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PARADE-Musical by Jason Robert Brown (Regional Premiere)
WaterTower Theatre
Through April 29, 2007

Performances at the Addison Theatre Centre, which is located at 15650 Addison Road in Addison, Texas. Times are Wednesdays and Thursdays at 7:30 PM, Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00 PM, and Sundays at 2:00 PM (no matinee April 8). There will be an additional Saturday matinee added on April 28 at 2:00 PM. Ticket prices range from $20-$30. Tickets are available by calling the WTT Box Office at 972.450.6232 or online at www.watertowertheatre.org. Group rates are also available.
 

John F. Garcia, Jr.